Two women portray members of a Union cavalry unit during a sesquicentennial re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg earlier this month.

Written by

William X. Andrews

It must be a sign of the times that at Civil War re-enactments I see more women discarding hooped skirts and parasols for woolen shell jackets and sabers. Recently, at the first of the sesquicentennial reenactments of the Battle of Gettysburg, I noticed more women bearing arms than ever before.

Of course, most women taking up the re-enactment hobby understand the rigidly confining roles to which females of the mid-19th century were subjected. Most women re-enactors wear period-appropriate clothing. The most popular lecture in the large activities tent at the Gettysburg re-enactment was ...